Railway car corner construction



May 29, 1951 l R. A. SHIELDS 2,555,296

RAILWAY CAR CORNER CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 29, 1946 Patented May 29,1951 UNITED- STATES PATENT .CFFICE RAILWAY CAR CORNER CONSTRUCTIONRobert A. Shields, Bloomsburg, Pa., assigner to American Car and)Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New JerseyApplication August 29, 1946, Serial No. 693,744

Claims.

This invention relates to railway cars in general but in particular tothe reinforcement of the corners appearing between the end and sidewalls.

Railway cars ends are frequently subjected to extremely high shock loadsdue to sudden stoppage of the car resulting in shifting of the ladingagainst the end wall. Such shifting of the lading frequently distortsthe ends and particularly the corner post constructon. It is an object,therefore, of the present invention to provide a railway car end havingrounded corners which are reinforced by plate members extending aschords across the rounded corners.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a railway car endhaving corners formed on a relatively large radius of curvature andbraced by means of T-shaped members having the arms welded to the endand with the leg of the T serving as a strut between the rounded cornerand the arms which extend as a chord across the rounded corner.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a railway car endhaving rounded corners reinforced by plate like means defining with thecorner two closed substantially triangular shaped spaces.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a cornerpost having a rounded central portion terminating in tangent edges andhaving a T-shaped reinforcement with the leg jammed against the curvedportion and the arms welded preferably to the curved portion at thepoint of tangency with the edges.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to personsskilled in the art from astudy of the following description andaccompanying drawings,` in which Fig. 1 is an end view of a railway carhaving the improved end attached thereto;

Fig. 2 isa side view of the end of the railway car;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 3 3 of Fig. 1,and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3 but showing a slightmodification.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that theimproved end has been applied to a railway car having sides 2, roof 4and running board 6. The end which joins the roof and side walls isprovided with a main panel portion 8 into which are preferably pressedcorrugations I0. These corrugations Ill extend around the rounded cornerI2 and merge into the laterally directed edges I4 as most clearly shownin Figs. 2 and 3. With such an arrangement alone it will be seen thatthe bulk of the bulging strains to which the end is subjected would haveto be resisted solely by the ends of the corrugations I. In order toreinforce the rounded corners I2 a flat plate I6 is jammed into thecorner and welded to the main panel 8 and side edge I4. This plate, ofcourse, can be either welded to the straight portions or even to therounded portions and since it is jammed into the corner accuracy inlshearing and shaping is not of great importance. This plate It, ofcourse, will serve as a chord of the rounded corner which is formed witha relatively large radius of curvature and this chord will act intension to prevent any increase in the radius of curvature of thecorner. In order to additionally brace the corner a strut I8 is providedand is preferably welded to the chord plate I6 and bears against theinner surface of the rounded corner I2. As shown this strut is placednormally to the rounded corner, that is, it extends in a radialdirection inwardly from the corner to its connection with plate I6. Itis obvious that the strut I8 can be welded to the inner surface of therounded corner prior to insertion and welding in place of plate I'.However, as shown the plates IS and I8 are welded together to form aT-shaped member and this member is then jammed into the rounded cornerand welded into place. In cases where the construction is used in linedcars the nailing strips 2U may be fastened to the structure by means ofa few angular shaped clips 22 welded to the plate IS in any desirednumber oi locations. The nailing strips will afford surfaces to whichthe side liner 24 may be nailed and additionally held in place byapplication of the end lining 25. It is, of course, obvious that the endconstruction may be attached by rivets SEI to the side walls 2 eitherbefore or after application of the reinforcing T-shaped member. It ispreferable, however, that the corner be reinforced prior to applicationto the car. In cases of existing structure, however, the T-shaped membermay be readily applied without disturbing the connection between the endwall and side sheets.

Under certain circumstances if it becomes desirable to widen an existingcar structure or to build a new car utilizing an existing car end, insuch cases the car end 4B (Fig. 4) can be welded or riveted as at 42 tothe tangent edge 44 of a plate having a relatively large curved centralportion 46 formed therein and merging into a second tangential edge 48.This second tangential edge may be Welded, riveted or otherwise securedto the side sheets 2. Since this corner is reinforced exactly in thesame manner as described in Fig. 3 and since the nailing strips andliner will be applied in exactly the same manner, the same referencenumerals have been applied as was used in connection With Fig. 3. Inthis constructon it will be seen that the rounded or curved platetogether with its T-shaped reinforcement may be fabricated as a separatemember and applied either to new or existing car structures.

While the construction has been described more or less in detail withspecific reference to the drawings, it will be seen that slightmodifications may be made without departing from the scope of theinvention as defined bythe following claims.

What lis claimed is:

l. In a railway car, side and end Walls joined together by a roundedcorner having a relatively large radius of curvature, a flat metal platewelded at its side edges to the rounded corner and extending thereacrossas a chord fastened at its ends to the corner and acting in tension toresist any increase in radius of curvature of the corner, and Aa `strutmember extending substantially normal to said iiat plate and intocontact with said rounded corner to additionally resist any change inVcurvature of said rounded corner.

2. In a railway car., side walls, an end wall having a main panel.portion and laterally directed sid'e edges `joined to the panel portionby rounded corners having arelatively large radius of curvature, meanssecuring said side edges and side walls together, corrugations formed insaid main panel and vextending around said rounded corners to merge intov'said side edges, and flat plates welded to said Ymain panel portionand to said side edges .and extending as chords across said roundedcorners to brace the same and assist said corrugations .in transferringstrains between said end and side walls, and additional iiat plateswelded to Vsaid first named flat plates and extending normal theretointo Contact with said rounded corners to prevent collapse thereof.

3. Ina railway car, side walls, an 'end wall having a main panel portionand laterally directed side edges joined to the panel Vportion byrounded corners-havinga relatively large radius of Acurvature, meanssecuring .said side edges and side walls together, and T-shaped meansextending across said rounded corners with the arms of the T welded tosaid main panel and side edges and the leg of the T bearing .against theinner surface of the round corner.

4. In a `railway car, side walls, an end wall having a main panelportion and laterally directed side edges joined to vthe :panel'portion'byrounded corners having a relatively large radius of curvature, meanssecuring said side .edges and side Walls together, and .means extendingacross Ysaid rounded corners and vdefining therewith two substantiallytriangular shaped -spaces extending substantially throughout the heightof said vend wall.

5. In a railway car, side walls, an endwall having a main panel portionand laterally directed side edges joined `to the panel portion byrounded cornershaving a relatively large radius of curvature, meanssecuring said side edges and side Walls together, T-'shaped meansextending across said rounded corners with the arms of the T welded tosaid main panel and side edges and the leg of the T bearing against theinner surface of the round corner, and angular shaped clips welded tothe arms of said T-shaped means and providing means to which linernailing strips may be fastened.

6. In va railway car, .side 'and end Walls, fabricated metal cornerposts connected to said side and end walls and each comprising a metalplate having a curved central portion with tangent edges extendingoutwardly from the curved portion for attachment to the side and endwalls, a flat metal plate welded to said metal plate and extending as achord across the curved portion whereby bulging strains of the sides andends tending to decrease the curvature of the metal plate will 'beresisted by said iiat plate acting in tension, :and a radially extendingstrut spanning the space between said curved portion of the .metal plateand said `ilat plate and secured to one `of said -metal plates.

7. As an article of manufacture, a railway car end .having a main panelportion joined to laterally directed side edges by relatively largeradius rounded corners, and T-shaped .means jammed into the corners withthe arms of the T welded to the end and with the leg of the T bearingagainst the inner surface of the rounded corners.

48. .As an `article of manufacture, arailway car end having a main panelportion joined to laterally directed side edges by relatively .largerad-ius rounded corners, corrugations formed in said Imain panel portionand extending around the rounded corners to merge into said side edges,andsubstantially T-shaped means jammed into the rounded corners andhaving the legs thereof bearing against the inner surface of the.roundedcor-ner and the .arms .thereof welded to said end to therebyreinforce the ends and prevent distortion of .said rounded corners.

9. As an article of manufacture, a corner Apost formed by Va curvedplate terminating in tangent side edges to which are welded the arms ofa T- shaped member and the leg of which bears against .the .innersurface of -the curved plate.

10. As an articleof manufacture, a cornervpost .formed by a curved platelterminating in tangent side edges to which .are secured .meansextending across the curved portion of the plate and deiining therewithtwo -substantially triangular shaped spaces extending substantiallythroughout the height of said post.

ROBERTA. SHIELDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number v Name Date '1,259,844 Fulda Mar. '19,19.18 1,874,901 Christiansen Aug. 30, '1932 2,250,523 'Christiansen etal. July 29, 1941 .2,260,512 Crede Oct. 28, .1941 '2,265,178 Lohse etal. .'Dec. 9, '1941 `v2,279,640 Johnsen July 3, v1945

